Peewee-1 (nuclear reactor)

A nuclear reactor, designed and
built as part of the Rover program,
specifically to investigate the performance characteristics of a small reactor
for nuclear propulsion in space. Peewee
used both NbC- (niobiumcarbide)
and ZrC- (zirconium carbide) coated fuel
elements, and it was found that the ZrC-coated elements resisted corrosion
by hydrogen more effectively than the NbC coating. Strutural integrity remained
a problem as it had been with some other reactors in the Rover program.
Peewee was tested in the autumn of 1968, achieving 514 MW of power for 2,400
seconds.